HOUSTON – In the same raucous building, in the same must-win situation, the Liberty managed to triumph last season. And all it took was a miraculous half-court bank-shot by Teresa Weatherspoon to force Game 3 against the Comets in the WNBA Championship.

This time around, the Liberty would prefer not to rely on another magical heave this afternoon when they face elimination against the three-time defending champions in Game 2 at a sold out Compaq Center.

Trying to get over their devastating 59-52 defeat in Game 1 Thursday at the Garden, the Liberty are promising the series, and their season, will not come to an end today.

Wearing a red floppy hat like Jimmie Walker’s from ‘Good Times’, and exhibiting his kind of bravado, too, Weatherspoon indicated yesterday that she packed for the entire weekend.

“We’ll be around on Sunday,” Weatherspoon said at the Compaq Center, doing her best Patrick Ewing impression. “We already believe it.”

With the experienced gained from last season’s Championship appearance, the Liberty feel they know what to expect tonight, and how to prepare for it.

“This is deja vu all over again,” said coach Richie Adubato, stealing a line from a fellow New Jersey resident Yogi Berra. “We’ve had experience being here. We know what the atmosphere will be like.”

At the same time, they also realize that the Comets have won 11 of 12 playoff games since their inception. And they are also aware that Comets’ 37-year old star Cynthia Cooper is retiring after this season, which could intensify the atmosphere.

Not that Cooper needs any extra incentive. The 5-10 guard made a clutch five-foot shot and three free throws down the stretch of Game 1 that helped pull down the Liberty’s torch.

Cooper finished with a team-high 20 points, but shot only 7-of-23 from the field.

“She will not let her team lose,” Adubato said.

The Liberty, meanwhile, have to shoot better themselves, after damaging the rims with a 33 percent performance in Game 1. Vickie Johnson, one of the team’s best shooters, was particularly off the mark by hitting just 2-of-7 from the field for six points.

“I know I have to step up and be more aggressive and not let them take me out of my game,” said Johnson, who is still nursing a sprained left ankle. “It’s very hard for me to cut and come to a jump stop so I try to rely on my outside shot.”

The Liberty, though, will be relying on center Tari Phillips, who caused the Comets fits with a game-high 24 points and 15 rebounds on Thursday.

As for the Comets, they remember well what happened last year, when they couldn’t finish off the Liberty in Game 2.

“It’s not over,” Janeth Arcain said. “We know they beat us in the second game here. We don’t want to give them a chance.”